diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index de3ceac3..0b404d66 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -8,18 +8,32 @@ The portal site is built with [sphinx](https://www.sphinx-doc.org/).
 To build the site locally (e.g. for testing new content),
 use [conda](https://docs.conda.io/) to set up a build environment with all dependencies.
 
-First, make a local clone of this source repository on your machine.
-Then, from the `content` directory of the source repository, do this:
+First, make a local clone of this source repository on your machine. For example:
+
+```
+git clone https://github.com/ProjectPythia/projectpythia.github.io.git
+```
+
+Then, change working directories to the local repository's `content` directory:
+
+```
+cd projectpythia.github.io/content
+```
+
+Set up your a conda environment:
+
 ```
 conda env create -f ../ci/environment.yml
 conda activate pythia
 ```
 
 You can then build the site:
+
 ```
 make html
 ```
-and view the built site in your web browser with
+and view the built site in your web browser with:
+
 ```
 open _build/html/index.html
 ```